Integrated circuit imaging, rendering and layout editing system and method

ABSTRACT

Described are various embodiments of a system and method for verifying extracted integrated circuit (IC) features representative of a source IC and stored in a feature dataset structure. Generally, a set of extracted IC features imaged within a designated IC area is converted into a static tile image. The static tile image is then rendered for visualization as an interactive mapping of the feature dataset structure within the area. Corrections for one or more of the set of extracted IC features are received based on the static tile image and input corrections are executed on the feature dataset structure to produce an updated feature dataset structure.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 16/692,900,filed on Nov. 22, 2019, which a continuation of application Ser. No.15/809,830, filed on Nov. 10, 2017, which claims priority to U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 62/426,188 filed on Nov. 23, 2016,the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in theirentirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure generally relates to integrated circuits, and inparticular, to an integrated circuit imaging, rendering and layoutediting system and method.

BACKGROUND

Integrated circuit (IC) design generally involves rendering a particularIC layout as a series of polygons outlining various IC features andinterconnections. Various IC design tools are available to assist indefining these features and functions and storing them in a standardizedformat such as in a GDSII database file format, which consists of abinary file format representing planar geometric shapes, text labels,and other information about the layout in hierarchical form. Thestructured and 3D layered layout can then be used to map out andmanufacture the IC.

To reverse engineer a particular IC layout, sequential images of the ICare taken and mosaicked, layer-by-layer, and processed to digitallyreconstruct the IC layout. Automated IC feature extraction tools havebeen developed to automatically identify IC features and connectionsfrom these images and progressively reconstruct IC layout polygons,which may again be represented and stored in a standardized format suchas in a GDSII database file format. However, as source IC imaging,mosaicking, and layering generally yields certain inaccuracies andimprecisions when automatically processed for feature extraction, manualand/or semi-automated post-processing is generally required to addressmisalignments, missed connections, artefacts and errors, for example,which may be expected when working from source images rather than aknown layout design.

In current implementations, such manual or semi-automated processes canbe executed by a team working in parallel on different regions ofinterest, whereby corrected polygons in any given region may predictablyimpact identified polygons in other related regions and/or layers suchthat polygon corrections are generally propagated on-the-fly throughoutthe layout by reprocessing the entire layout polygon data. Forincreasingly large and complex polygon data structures representative ofincreasingly complex and dense IC designs, the on-the-fly propagation ofpolygon corrections/adjustments, particularly across a team working inparallel on a same reverse engineered design layout, can drawsignificant processing resources and lead to significant if notprohibitive lag time between iterations.

This background information is provided to reveal information believedby the applicant to be of possible relevance. No admission isnecessarily intended, nor should be construed, that any of the precedinginformation constitutes prior art or forms part of the general commonknowledge in the relevant art.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary of the general inventiveconcept(s) described herein to provide a basic understanding of someaspects of the invention. This summary is not an extensive overview ofthe invention. It is not intended to restrict key or critical elementsof the invention or to delineate the scope of the invention beyond thatwhich is explicitly or implicitly described by the following descriptionand claims.

A need exists for an integrated circuit imaging, rendering and layoutediting system and method that overcome some of the drawbacks of knowntechniques, or at least, provides a useful alternative thereto. Someaspects of this disclosure provide examples of such systems and methods.

In accordance with one aspect, there is provided a computer-implementedmethod for verifying extracted integrated circuit (IC) featuresrepresentative of a source IC and stored in a feature dataset structure,the method comprising: converting, from the feature dataset structure, aset of extracted IC features imaged within a designated IC area into astatic tile image of the set representative of the area; rendering thestatic tile image for visualization as an interactive mapping of thefeature dataset structure within the area; receiving input correctionsfor one or more of the set of extracted IC features based on the statictile image; and executing the input corrections on the feature datasetstructure to produce an updated feature dataset structure.

In one embodiment, the method further comprises, prior to theconverting: imaging the source IC to output a source IC image;automatically extracting a plurality of IC features from the source ICimage; and storing respective representations of each of the extractedIC features in the feature dataset structure.

In one embodiment, the converting comprises converting respective setsof the extracted IC features imaged within juxtaposed areas intocorresponding juxtaposable static tile images; and the rendering and thereceiving are executed as a function of the corresponding static tileimages.

In one embodiment, adjacent ones of the juxtaposable static tile imagesare selectively mosaicked to render a combined interactive mapping.

In one embodiment, each of the corresponding static tile images isstored at multiple mapping resolutions such that, for a selected ICmapping area and resolution, corresponding ones of the juxtaposablestatic tile images are mosaicked to render the combined interactivemapping for the area at the mapping resolution.

In one embodiment, lower resolution tile images are constrained byvirtue of their selected resolution to detail only larger scale ICfeatures, whereas higher resolution tile images detail smaller scale ICfeatures, and wherein the rendering comprises selectively rendering theinteractive mapping at a selected resolution so to selectively constrainthe rendering to the larger scale IC features.

In one embodiment, the method further comprises converting the updatedfeature dataset into an updated static tile image and rendering theupdated static tile image for further visualization as an updatedinteractive mapping of the updated feature dataset.

In one embodiment, the input corrections are interactively input via theinteractive mapping.

In one embodiment, the extracted IC features are stored as polygons inthe feature dataset structure, and wherein the static tile image isrepresentative of the polygons in the area.

In one embodiment, the static tile image is colour coded as a functionof at least one IC feature characteristic stored against the extractedIC features in the feature dataset structure.

In one embodiment, the at least one feature characteristic comprises anextracted feature layer identifier representative of a designated imagedIC layer.

In one embodiment, the at least one feature characteristic comprises apower connection identified for at least some of the extracted ICfeatures.

In one embodiment, the converting comprises generating a bitmap imagerepresentative of the extracted IC features in the area;

In one embodiment, the bitmap image is subsequently colour-coded as afunction of at least one feature characteristic stored against theextracted IC features in the area.

In one embodiment, the rendering comprises at least partiallytransparently overlaying the static tile image onto a correspondingsource IC image area such that the source IC image area is at leastpartially visible through the mapping.

In accordance with another aspect, there is provided an integratedcircuit (IC) extraction verification system comprising: auser-interactive digital image display; a data processor; and a datastorage accessible to the data processor, the data storage having storedtherein: a feature dataset structure for storing extracted IC featuresrepresentative of a source IC; and statements and instructionsexecutable by the processor to: convert, from the feature datasetstructure, a set of extracted IC features imaged within a designated ICarea into a static tile image of the set representative of the area;render, on the display, the static tile image for visualization as aninteractive mapping of the feature dataset structure within the area;receive input corrections for one or more of the set of extracted ICfeatures based on the static tile image; and execute the inputcorrections on the feature dataset structure to produce an updatedfeature dataset structure.

In one embodiment, the statements and instructions are furtherexecutable to convert respective sets of the extracted IC featuresimaged within juxtaposed areas into corresponding juxtaposable statictile images.

In one embodiment, adjacent ones of the juxtaposable static tile imagesare selectively mosaicked to render a combined interactive mapping.

In one embodiment, each of the corresponding static tile images isstored at multiple mapping resolutions such that, for a selected ICmapping area and resolution, corresponding ones of the juxtaposablestatic tile images are mosaicked to render the combined interactivemapping for the area at the mapping resolution.

In one embodiment, the lower resolution tile images are constrained byvirtue of their selected resolution to detail only larger scale ICfeatures, whereas higher resolution tile images detail smaller scale ICfeatures, and wherein the statements and instructions are furtherexecutable to selectively render the interactive mapping at a selectedresolution so to selectively constrain the rendering to the larger scaleIC features.

In one embodiment, the statements and instructions are furtherexecutable to convert the updated feature dataset into an updated statictile image and render the updated static tile image for furthervisualization as an updated interactive mapping of the updated featuredataset.

In one embodiment, the input corrections are interactively captured viaa user interface to the interactive mapping.

In one embodiment, the extracted IC features are stored as polygons inthe feature dataset structure, and wherein the static tile image isrepresentative of the polygons in the area.

In one embodiment, the static tile image is colour coded as a functionof at least one IC feature characteristic stored against the extractedIC features in the feature dataset structure.

In one embodiment, the at least one feature characteristic comprises anextracted feature layer identifier representative of a designated imagedIC layer.

In one embodiment, the at least one feature characteristic comprises apower connection identified for at least some of the extracted ICfeatures.

In one embodiment, the static tile image is a bitmap imagerepresentative of the extracted IC features in the area;

In one embodiment, the statements and instructions are furtherexecutable to colour-code the bitmap image as a function of at least onefeature characteristic stored against the extracted IC features in thearea.

In one embodiment, the statements and instructions are furtherexecutable to at least partially transparently overlay the static tileimage onto a corresponding source IC image area such that the source ICimage area is at least partially visible through the mapping.

In accordance with another aspect, there is provided a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium having statements and instructions storedthereon for execution by a processor to implement an integrated circuit(IC) feature extraction verification application by: converting, from astored feature dataset structure, a set of extracted IC features imagedwithin a designated IC area into a static tile image of the setrepresentative of the area; rendering, on an interactive digitaldisplay, the static tile image for visualization as an interactivemapping of the feature dataset structure within the area; receivinginput corrections for one or more of the set of extracted IC featuresbased on the static tile image; and executing the input corrections onthe feature dataset structure to produce an updated feature datasetstructure.

In one embodiment, the converting comprises converting respective setsof the extracted IC features imaged within juxtaposed areas intocorresponding juxtaposable static tile images; and the rendering and thereceiving are executed as a function of the corresponding static tileimages.

In one embodiment, adjacent ones of the juxtaposable static tile imagesare selectively mosaicked to render a combined interactive mapping; andeach of the corresponding static tile images is stored at multiplemapping resolutions such that, for a selected IC mapping area andresolution, corresponding ones of the juxtaposable static tile imagesare mosaicked to render the combined interactive mapping for the area atthe mapping resolution.

In one embodiment, lower resolution tile images are constrained byvirtue of their selected resolution to detail only larger scale ICfeatures, whereas higher resolution tile images detail smaller scale ICfeatures, and wherein the rendering comprises selectively rendering theinteractive mapping at a selected resolution so to selectively constrainthe rendering to the larger scale IC features.

In one embodiment, the statements and instructions are furtherexecutable to convert the updated feature dataset into an updated statictile image and rendering the updated static tile image for furthervisualization as an updated interactive mapping of the updated featuredataset.

In one embodiment, the extracted IC features are stored as polygons inthe feature dataset structure, and wherein the static tile image isrepresentative of the polygons in the area.

In one embodiment, the rendering comprises at least partiallytransparently overlaying the static tile image onto a correspondingsource IC image area such that the source IC image area is at leastpartially visible through the mapping.

In accordance with another aspect, there is provided acomputer-implemented method for rendering an image defined by avectorized feature dataset at different magnifications, the methodcomprising: converting, for each given image rendering magnification,respective subsets of the vectorized feature dataset located withinjuxtaposed image areas into correspondingly juxtaposable static tileimages of the respective subsets, wherein a resolution of each of thestatic tile images is prescribed by the given image renderingmagnification; receiving selection of a selected image renderingmagnification and selected image area; retrieving the static tile imagescorresponding to the selected image rendering magnification and selectedimage area; and rendering the retrieved static tile images forvisualization of the selected image area at the selected image renderingmagnification.

In one embodiment, lower magnification tile images are constrained byvirtue of their associated magnification to detail only larger scalefeatures, whereas higher magnification tile images detail smaller scalefeatures, and wherein the rendering comprises selectively rendering theselected image area at a relatively higher selected magnification so toselectively constrain the rendering to the larger scale features.

In one embodiment, the vectorized features are stored as polygons, andwherein the static tile images are representative of the polygons.

In one embodiment, the converting comprises generating a bitmap imagerepresentative of the vectorized features in the given area.

In one embodiment, the rendering comprises rendering the retrievedstatic tile images for visualization as an interactive mapping of thefeature dataset structure within the area.

In one embodiment, the method further comprises: receiving inputcorrections for one or more given features based on the static tileimages; and executing the input corrections on the feature dataset toproduce an updated feature dataset.

Other aspects, features and/or advantages will become more apparent uponreading of the following non-restrictive description of specificembodiments thereof, given by way of example only with reference to theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Several embodiments of the present disclosure will be provided, by wayof examples only, with reference to the appended drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an integrated circuit (IC) imaging, rendering andlayout editing system, in accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 2A is a simplified diagram of an automatically extracted IC imagefeature dataset represented by output polygons, in accordance with oneembodiment;

FIG. 2B is a diagram of a static tile image representative of theextracted feature dataset depicted in FIG. 2A and automaticallyconverted therefrom for visualization as an interactive mapping thereof.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary screenshot of an automatically extracted ICcircuit layout image consisting of over 11500 polygons representingabout 1.9 MB of stored data;

FIG. 4 is another exemplary screenshot of an automatically extracted ICcircuit layout image consisting of 255000 polygons representing about 49MB of stored data;

FIG. 5A is another exemplary screenshot of an automatically extracted ICcircuit layout image in which each imaged circuit line is represented byan average of 60 polygon vertices due to inherent data extractionimperfections common in a reverse engineering environment and resultingin significantly increased IC layout feature rendering loads, whereasFIG. 5B is a screenshot of the same IC circuit layout image onceconverted from extracted polygons into a bitmap image to reducerendering loads.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The systems and methods described herein provide, in accordance withdifferent embodiments, different examples of an integrated circuitimaging, rendering and layout editing system and method that yield, forinstance, improved IC reverse engineering throughput, efficiency andreduced lag times. For example, in one embodiment, errors, inaccuraciesand/or misalignments identifiable in an extracted IC feature dataset canbe more readily and efficiently addressed and propagated throughout theIC layout data structure without adversely affecting overall layoutprocessing efficiency, throughput and correction lag times.

In one such example, feature extraction verifications in a given area ofinterest can be executed on an interactive extracted IC feature mappingof this area, which may be, for example, rendered to overlay acorresponding IC image of the IC area of interest. For example, anextracted feature dataset for a given area can first be converted orotherwise translated into a static tile image representative of theextracted features in that area, optionally with associated labelingand/or colour coding embedded therein, thereby reducing an overallscreen rendering load on the system when seeking to visualize extractedfeatures in that area. This static tile image can be dynamically linkedwith the extracted feature dataset so to be used as an interactivemapping of the extracted features, particularly when optionally renderedto overlay a corresponding source imaging of the IC in that area (i.e.the IC imaging used to source the feature extraction). Accordingly, theinteractive mapping can be used to verify a feature extraction accuracy,and, given its dynamic interface to the underlying feature dataset,further used to guide source corrections thereto (e.g. identifymisconnections, missed connections, misalignments, artefacts, staggeredor otherwise noisy extracted polygon line outputs, etc.). Suchcorrections to the source dataset can then be propagated throughout theextracted layout architecture and used downstream to produce updatedstatic tile images and mappings of the extracted IC layout dataset forfurther verification, revision and/or editing as need be. Using thisapproach, the user may act directly to correct or adjust a currentfeature dataset (e.g. to amend current feature dataset polygons, labelsand related annotations/metadata) without unduly impacting a processingload on the system as a whole, for example, which may be concurrentlyused by a team working in parallel on different areas and/or layers ofthe extracted feature dataset. Namely, while multiple datasetcorrections may be concurrently entered and tracked, these correctionsare not immediately conveyed as a screen-rendered output, and in fact,may optionally be batch-compiled and propagated throughout the layoutarchitecture on a scheduled basis so to minimize any lag or downtimeduring active verification.

Given the nature and expected number of corrections required to improvean accuracy of automatically extracted features, for example, dynamic oron-the-fly feature correction rendering is not required forverifications to be pursued over a given area, and even less so in otherconnected or layered areas. Accordingly, extracted feature verificationsand corrections can be reliably executed in parallel for various areasof interest on the basis of respective static tile images of theextracted features in these areas, each dynamically linked and mapped tothe underlying feature dataset sourced to produce these images, thusreducing overall processing loads on the verification system. Batch andscheduled processing of input corrections can also alleviate processingload and reduce lag times without unduly impacting verificationefficiency and accuracy.

With reference to FIG. 1, and in accordance with one embodiment, anexemplary integrated circuit (IC) extraction verification system 100will now be described. In this embodiment, the system generallycomprises or is configured to interface with or at least receive forfurther processing the output of an imaging device 102, such as ascanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope(TEM), focused ion beam (FIB) imaging device, atomic force microscope(AFM), optical imaging system such as an optical microscope, camera,flatbed scanner, x-ray and the like, that is used to generally produce aset of images 104 representative of a source IC 106. These images 104are generally stored in digital form on a data storage device 108 of thesystem 100 and optionally retrievable via CPU 110 and user interface 112for visualization. As will be appreciated by the skilled technician,other imaging techniques may also be considered, for example, in theimplementation of the herein-described process in other fields, such asin medical imaging, geographic mapping, geologic mapping and the like.

In this particular embodiment, the stored images 104 are automaticallyprocessed to extract therefrom a set of IC features representative ofthe source IC, in this case stored as a feature dataset 114 stored in aconventional data structure such as a GDSII database file format, oragain an SQL or other like database format, as will be readily known inthe art. The dataset may otherwise or also be stored in memory and/or ona permanent storage device such as a hard or flash drive, and the like,as will be readily appreciated by the skilled artisan. For instance,different imaging, mapping and/or data applications may invoke differentsource dataset types and storage requirements and/or preferences.Ultimately, the principles considered herein may be applied to differentvectorized or like dataset types and/or storage options to improvedownstream dataset rendering, editing and/or dynamic updating loads, forexample.

With added reference to FIG. 2A, the stored dataset may beillustratively stored as a set of polygons (e.g. see polygons 202 and204) defined by respective sets of vertices 206 that may beinteractively rendered for visualization, and modification as necessary.As will be described in greater detail below, where extracted featuresmay be represented by a limited set of polygon vertices, these extractedpolygons may be efficiently rendered without undue system processingloads. However, where data extraction artefacts and imperfections resultin a significant increase in automatically generated polygon vertices,rendering loads may increase significantly if not prohibitively. Tomitigate burdensome processing loads, the feature dataset is, in thisexample, further processed to produce a set of static tile images 116that may be rendered individually and/or mosaicked to depict aselectable area of the imaged IC without need to render each of itsconstituent polygon vertices. For example, the polygons 202 and 204shown in FIG. 2A can be converted, as described herein, into the statictile image 208 of FIG. 2B, the latter generally corresponding to a muchlower rendering load than the former, particularly as the number ofpolygons and vertices increase, as will be described and exemplifiedfurther below. Furthermore, while the rendering load associated with agiven area will vary when rendering polygons based on the number ofpolygons involved, the size of the static tile images will remainpredictably the same based on the predefined static tile image pixelsize.

In this particular embodiment, the converted static tiles 116 arerendered as an interactive mapping 118 alongside an interactive featuredataset editing tool 120 such that appropriate corrections may beefficiently applied to the extracted dataset through visualization ofthe rendered static tile images without necessarily rendering any of theextracted polygons or vertices themselves. For example, the userinterface 112 may allow the user to select an IC area for visualizationand verification via area selection tool 122, which will invoke thesystem to retrieve, in this example via CPU 110 and data storage 108,one or more corresponding IC images 104 from the data store, as well asthe feature dataset 114 and static tile image(s) 116 correspondingthereto.

To mitigate excessive image rendering loads, the CPU 110 will generate acorresponding interactive mapping 118 consisting of the retrieved statictiles 116, in this example overlaid onto the source IC images 104 toidentify possible discrepancies generated during the automated featureextraction process (e.g. feature misalignments; inaccurate featureconnections, disconnections and/or misconnections, omissions, artefactsand the like), that are dynamically mapped to the stored feature dataset114 via interactive editing tool 120. For instance, the user interfacemay allow the user to navigate the interactive mapping 118 using aninteractive cursor, pointer or the like operated against the statictile(s) 116 while tracking a relative position (e.g. static imagecoordinates) thereof against corresponding polygon vertex coordinates.In doing so, a user may interactively select a particular featuredataset polygon and/or vertex on the static tile image(s) 116 withoutnecessarily having to render this polygon, but rather by dynamicallymapping user actions on the static tile(s) 116 against an editablelisting of such polygon vertices provided via the editing tool 120.

Since the user is not directly interfacing with live rendering of thestored feature dataset, dataset corrections may be applied directly(e.g. polygon/vertex corrections) without having to immediately renderand propagate such corrections throughout the system interface. At anytime, however, all or a relevant subset of the static tile images 116may be regenerated based on one or more input corrections to the featuredataset 114 for visualization, but again, at a much reduced renderingload. Furthermore, as different users may be working on different areasof the feature dataset, different static tile images may be rendered toreflect input corrections at different times without impacting the workof others, even when effectively operating on the same or relatedfeatures that may span multiple tile images.

In some embodiments, different sets of extracted IC features imagedwithin juxtaposed areas may be correspondingly converted to juxtaposablestatic tile images that may thus be mosaicked, as need be, to produce alarger combined area view and dynamic mapping.

Given that verification work done at different image resolutions maygenerally involve corrections applied to correspondingly sized features,static tile images may be produced at different scales such that smallerfeatures generally unworkable at lower resolutions are not necessarilyincluded in larger, high level tiles, but increasingly included ashigher resolution tiles are requested when working on the finer featuresof the extracted layout. In comparison, when rendering the entirefeatured dataset for a given area selection irrespective of resolution,it will be appreciated that a significant and often prohibitive increasein rendering load will ensue for large-scale manipulations. Using theapproach described herein, scaling factors maybe appropriately invokedto only render features reasonably workable at any given scale and thusminimize the inclusion of fine details for regions exhibiting highfeature densities at a given resolution. Accordingly, correspondingstatic tile images may be stored at multiple mapping resolutions suchthat, for a selected IC mapping area and resolution, correspondingjuxtaposable static tile images can be mosaicked to render anappropriate combined interactive mapping for this area at the selectedmapping resolution. As noted above, lower resolution tile images will beconstrained by virtue of their selected resolution to detail only largerscale IC features, whereas higher resolution tile images will detailsmaller scale IC features.

As will be appreciated by the skilled artisan, while the abovecontemplates the automated extraction of IC feature dataset polygons,and the conversion thereof to representative static bitmap tile images,other file and image formats may also be considered without departingfrom the general scope and nature of the present disclosure. Forexample, and as noted below, while the use of a static bitmap (.bmp)image tile format allows for a direct mapping of image bits to pixels,other static image tile file formats may also be considered, such as.tif, .jpg, .jp2 and the like, without departing from the general scopeand nature of the present disclosure, some of which in fact allowing foreven further overall processing/rendering load reductions through wellknown image compression techniques that, in most cases, would notperceptibly impact processing/rendering loads.

Furthermore, while the examples provided herein focus on the provisionof an IC feature dataset rendering and editing tool, the image renderingoptimization technique considered herein may also be applicable to otherapplications in which large (vectorized) datasets must be processed forefficient rendering and user interaction, particularly where suchdatasets are selectively rendered at differentresolutions/magnifications in which, for example, high detail levels maybe lost or imperceptible and thus unnecessarily rendered for lowermagnifications. For example, scalable geographic and/or geologicalmapping applications may rely on high volume vectorized datasets that,at lower magnifications, need not encompass the full set of vectors toprovide the desired visualization. These datasets may also beautomatically acquired and/or compiled from various geolocationalimaging techniques that, as in the above IC example, introduce certainimperfections, inaccuracies and/or artefacts that may undesirablyincrease mapping/rendering loads and that could thus further benefitfrom the static tile image conversion techniques considered herein.Further, by implementing the approaches considered herein, a (dynamic)mapping may be produced for the entire dataset in a given area withoutnecessarily invoking prohibitive image-rendering loads for lowmagnifications.

Likewise, certain gaming applications, particularly 3D gamingapplications that store large datasets for a given area to beselectively viewed “up close” may not require the same level ofrendering precision when viewed “from afar”. By systematicallyconverting vectorized datasets for each area into respectivemagnification-appropriate static tile images, to be optionally used asdynamic mappings of this dataset, a rendering load may be drasticallyreduced thus improving overall image and game processing efficiencies.

Similarly, various medical data and/or imaging applications may rely onlarge vectorized dataset, their rendering efficiency of which may bedrastically improved by implementing a computerized method as describedherein. Other applications may also be considered to provide a likeeffect, as will be appreciated by the skilled artisan.

In some embodiments, the static tile images may be colour-coded based onone or more operational parameters or characteristics associated withselected dataset features. For example, returning to the IC layoutexample, extracted features associated with a particular IC layer mayall share a same layer identifier and thus, invoke a same static tileimage colouring allowing static tile images representative of differentIC layout layers to show extracted features in respective layer-specificcolours. In the context of bitmap tiles, each tile may still representtile pixels in a binary format to locate the position of extractedfeatures, and invoke appropriate layer-specific colouring upon renderingby applying a uniform colour code to the bitmap image based on anassociate layer identifier. Multicolour bitmaps may also be considered,for example, when associating distinguishing parameters to selectedfeatures, such as those characterized by a power connection, or thelike, so that they may be distinguishably rendered during verification.

With reference now to FIGS. 3 to 5B, an exemplary impact of theprocesses described herein will now be illustrated with reference tovarious sample IC layout images. In the below examples, a 1920×1080screen resolution is assumed in providing sample calculations.

The extracted IC layout image shown in FIG. 3 represents an area ofabout 17500 pixels by 8200 pixels and contains over 11500 polygons thatadd up to about 1.9 MB of stored data. Using a standard polygonrendering process, 1.9 MB of data would thus have to be rendered tooutput this image using the stored polygons.

In comparison, the bitmap conversion and rendering processes describedherein can allow for a significant reduction in data rendering load. Forexample, a set of 1024 pixel×1024 pixel bitmap tiles can be generatedfrom the extracted polygons, each tile representing 1 bit per imagepixel thus each invariably representing 128 KB in size on disk. At anygiven time, the user could render a maximum of 9 tiles (9×128 KB=1152KB) which generally represents much less data than if the full sizeunderlying polygons were used. In this example, a bitmap (.bmp) fileformat is considered, which does not involve any data compression. Atagged image file format (.tif) could also be considered to provide asimilar advantage. On the other hand, the use of a compressed image fileformat such as jpeg (.jpg) could further improve performance,particularly when dealing with relatively small image files such asconsidered herein in which compression and decompression cycles do notadd much load to the system. Accordingly, the herein-reported renderingload improvements figures may be further improved upon by consideringone or more compressed image file formats, for example.

Using this approach, rendering the image view shown in FIG. 3 usingbitmap tiles could be accomplished using between 0.125 MB and 1.125 MBdepending on how the bitmap tiles are positioned in respect to thisview. Accordingly, the use of bitmap tiles results in a rendering loadof between 6.6% and 59% as compared to that required for full polygonrendering.

As will be appreciated by the skilled artisan, the rendering loadsavings will vary as the user zooms in and out, and in some embodiments,the system may be adapted to selectively render converted bitmap tilesor full polygons depending the selected viewing resolution (e.g. fullpolygons could be rendered when users select certain viewingmagnifications beyond a preset magnification threshold.

The extracted IC layout image shown in FIG. 4 represents an area ofabout 111400 pixels by 52000 pixels and contains over 255000 polygonsthat add up to about 49 MB. To render this view using polygons, onewould need to load that much data and at this zoom level, many of therendered polygons are not even visible. In comparison, to render thesame view using bitmaps, one would need at most 1152 KB (1.125 MB) asstated above, which is about 2.3% of the 49 MB required if usingpolygons, which ratio gets smaller and smaller as the rendered view iszoomed out further and further to encompass visualization of evengreater numbers of extracted polygons.

As noted above, the significant and increasing amount of data requiredto render a given view using polygons as one zooms out can be explainedby two main factors. First, rendering using polygons requires loadingevery single polygon present in the view irrespective of viewingmagnification, which means that for lower magnifications, a significantnumber of polygons may be rendered without necessarily being visuallydistinguishable by the user.

Secondly, imperfections generated during the data extraction process(chip delayering, imaging, polygon generation, etc.) can cause thegeneration of significantly more polygon vertices than would otherwisebe required to render the same extracted image under ideal conditions,which are not generally available in a reverse engineering context.These somewhat superfluous polygon vertices thus result in largerpolygon storage sizes and rendering loads. Namely, the size on disk ofany given polygon increases with the number of its constituent vertices,each vertex being made of two integers that represent its coordinateswith each integer being represented by 32 bits.

In comparison, and in accordance with one embodiment, bitmap images canbe computed for different preset resolutions such that the renderingsystem can use at most 1 bit per screen pixel when rendering a givenview no matter the zoom level. Accordingly, the amount of data requiredto render any given view using bitmap images will not depend on the zoomlevel, and only those features perceptively distinguishable on screenwill be displayed to the user (as opposed to rendering visuallyundistinguishable and thus perceptively overlapping polygons).

The extracted IC layout image shown in FIG. 5A illustrates the impactdata extraction imperfections can have on rendering load. If the dataextraction were flawless, the image shown in FIG. 5A would showperfectly straight lines, each one ideally defined by 5 polygonvertices. In comparison, actual reverse engineer imaging dataextractions resulted in the production of the jagged lines shown here,each one, on average, defined by 60 polygon vertices, a twelve-foldincrease from ideal imaging.

In FIG. 5B, the same extracted image is rendered using a bitmapconversion process, as described above, to produce a visuallyindistinguishable version of the same image, but without the addedrendering load imparted by the extracted imperfections (i.e. the bitmapimages are impartial to imperfections, allocating a single bit perviewing pixel whether this pixel is imaged as being within or outside aparticular image feature).

While the present disclosure describes various exemplary embodiments,the disclosure is not so limited. To the contrary, the disclosure isintended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangementsincluded within the general scope of the present disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method for verifyingextracted integrated circuit (IC) features representative of a source ICand stored in a feature dataset structure, the method comprising:receiving input corrections for a set of one or more of said extractedIC features directly into the feature dataset structure, at least one ofthe extracted IC features are associated with one or more operationalcharacteristics; executing said input corrections on said featuredataset structure to produce an updated feature dataset structure;converting, from the updated feature dataset structure, the set ofextracted IC features into a static tile image representative of adesignated area of said source IC comprising said IC features; andrendering said static tile image for visualization as an interactivemapping of said feature dataset structure within said designated area,wherein at least one extracted IC features having a selected operationalcharacteristic is rendered visually distinguishable from other extractedIC features that do not have said selected operational characteristic.2. The method of claim 2, further comprising prior to said receiving:imaging the source IC to output a source IC image; automaticallyextracting a plurality of IC features from said source IC image, atleast some of said IC features having one or more operationalcharacteristics associated therewith; and storing respectiverepresentations of each of the extracted IC features in the featuredataset structure, at least some of said respective representationsbeing stored in association with one or more operationalcharacteristics.
 3. The method of claim 3, wherein: said convertingcomprises converting respective sets of the extracted IC features fromsaid feature dataset that are from juxtaposed areas of said source ICinto corresponding juxtaposable static tile images, said juxtaposablestatic tile images comprising at least one visually distinguishable ICfeature associated with the selected operational characteristic.
 4. Themethod of claim 4, wherein adjacent ones of said juxtaposable statictile images are selectively mosaicked to render a combined interactivemapping.
 5. The method of claim 5, wherein each of said correspondingstatic tile images is stored at multiple mapping resolutions such that,for a selected IC mapping area and resolution, corresponding ones ofsaid juxtaposable static tile images are mosaicked to render saidcombined interactive mapping for said area at said mapping resolutionand said at least one visually distinguishable IC feature.
 6. The methodof claim 6, wherein lower resolution tile images are constrained byvirtue of their selected resolution to detail only larger scale ICfeatures and said visually distinguishable IC features associated withthe selected operational characteristics, whereas higher resolution tileimages detail smaller scale IC features, and wherein said renderingcomprises selectively rendering said interactive mapping at a selectedresolution so to selectively constrain said rendering to said largerscale IC features and to display said visually distinguishable ICfeatures associated with the selected operational characteristics. 7.The method of claim 3, wherein at least one of the following occurs uponuser input: said converting or said rendering.
 8. The method of claim 3,wherein said extracted IC features are stored as polygons in saidfeature dataset structure, and wherein said static tile image isrepresentative of said polygons in said area.
 9. The method of claim 2,wherein said at least one operational characteristic comprises at leastone of: connection another selected extracted IC feature, connectionwith a power source, or connection with IC features having a selectedfunctionality.
 10. The method of claim 2, wherein said renderingcomprises generating a bitmap image from said representative of saidextracted IC features in said area, wherein at least one extracted ICfeatures having the selected operational characteristic is renderedvisually distinguishable in said bitmap image from other extracted ICfeatures that do not have said selected operational characteristic. 11.The method of claim 2, wherein said rendering comprises at leastpartially transparently overlaying said static tile image comprisingsaid visually distinguishable IC features onto a corresponding source ICimage area such that said source IC image area is at least partiallyvisible through said mapping.
 12. The method of claim 2, wherein saidreceiving input corrections occurs concurrently from different users.13. The method of claim 13, wherein said concurrently received inputcorrections are executed as a batch at a later scheduled time on saidfeature dataset structure to produce a further updated feature datasetstructure.
 14. An integrated circuit (IC) extraction verification systemcomprising: a user-interactive digital image display; a data processor;and a data storage accessible to said data processor, said data storagehaving stored therein: a feature dataset structure for storing extractedIC features representative of a source IC, wherein at least one of theextracted IC features are associated with one or more operationalcharacteristics; and statements and instructions executable by saidprocessor to: receive input corrections for one or more of a set of theextracted IC features directly into the feature dataset structure;execute said input corrections on said feature dataset structure toproduce an updated feature dataset structure; convert, from the updatedfeature dataset structure, the set of the extracted IC features into astatic tile image representative of a designated area of said source ICcomprising said IC features; and render said static tile image into arepresentation configured to be visualized as an interactive mapping ofsaid feature dataset structure within said designated area, wherein atleast one extracted IC feature having a selected operationalcharacteristic is rendered visually distinguishable from other extractedIC features that do not have said selected operational characteristic.15. The system of claim 15, wherein said statements and instructions arefurther executable to convert respective sets of the extracted ICfeatures from said feature dataset that are from juxtaposed areas intocorresponding juxtaposable static tile images, wherein adjacent ones ofsaid juxtaposable static tile images are selectively mosaicked to rendera combined interactive mapping, said combined interactive mappingcomprising at least one IC feature associated with the selectedoperational characteristic that is visually distinguishable thereon. 16.The system of claim 16, wherein each of said corresponding static tileimages is stored at multiple mapping resolutions such that, for aselected IC mapping area and resolution, corresponding ones of saidjuxtaposable static tile images are mosaicked to render said combinedinteractive mapping for said area at said mapping resolution and said atleast one visually distinguishable IC feature.
 17. The system of claim17, wherein lower resolution tile images are constrained by virtue oftheir selected resolution to detail only larger scale IC features andsaid visually distinguishable IC features associated with the selectedoperational characteristics, whereas higher resolution tile imagesdetail smaller scale IC features, and wherein said statements andinstructions are further executable to selectively render saidinteractive mapping at a selected resolution so to selectively constrainsaid rendering to said larger scale IC features and display at least onevisually distinguishable IC feature having the selected operationalcharacteristic.
 18. The system of claim 15, wherein said statements andinstructions are further executable, upon user input, to convert saidupdated feature dataset into an updated static tile image and rendersaid updated static tile image for further visualization as an updatedinteractive mapping of said updated feature dataset.
 19. The system ofclaim 15, wherein said extracted IC features are stored as polygons insaid feature dataset structure, and wherein said static tile image isrepresentative of said polygons in said area.
 20. The system of claim15, wherein a bitmap image is generated from said static tile imagerepresentative of said extracted IC features in said designated area,wherein said statements and instructions are further executable todistinguishably render said extracted IC features displayed said bitmapimage as a function of at least one operational characteristic storedagainst said extracted IC features in said area.
 21. The system of claim15, wherein said statements and instructions are further executable toat least partially transparently overlay said static tile imagecomprising said visually distinguishable IC features onto acorresponding source IC image area such that said source IC image areais at least partially visible through said mapping.
 22. The system ofclaim 15, wherein said statements and instructions executable by saidprocessor to receive input corrections are executable concurrently fromdifferent users.
 23. The system of claim 23, wherein said concurrentlyreceived input corrections are executed by said processor as a batch ata later scheduled time on said feature dataset structure to produce afurther updated feature dataset structure.
 24. A non-transitorycomputer-readable medium having statements and instructions storedthereon for execution by a processor to implement an integrated circuit(IC) feature extraction verification application by: receiving inputcorrections for one or more IC features directly into a feature datasetstructure, said IC features being originally extracted from a source IC,wherein at least one of the extracted IC features are associated withone or more operational characteristics; executing said inputcorrections on said feature dataset structure to produce an updatedfeature dataset structure; converting, from the updated feature datasetstructure, a set of IC features into a static tile image representativeof a designated area of said source IC comprising said set of ICfeatures; and rendering said static tile image for visualization as aninteractive mapping of said feature dataset structure within saiddesignated area, wherein at least one extracted IC feature having aselected operational characteristic is rendered visually distinguishablefrom other extracted IC features that do not have said selectedoperational characteristic.
 25. The computer-readable medium of claim25, wherein: said converting comprises converting respective sets ofsaid IC features from said feature dataset that are from juxtaposedareas into corresponding juxtaposable static tile images, at least oneof said juxtaposable static tile images comprising at least one visuallydistinguishable IC feature associated with the selected operationalcharacteristic; adjacent or overlapping ones of said juxtaposable statictile images are selectively mosaicked to render a combined interactivemapping; and each of said corresponding static tile images is stored atmultiple mapping resolutions such that, for a selected IC mapping areaand resolution, corresponding ones of said juxtaposable static tileimages are mosaicked to render said combined interactive mapping forsaid area at said mapping resolution, said combined interactive mappingcomprising at least one IC feature associated with the selectedoperational characteristic that is visually distinguishable thereon. 26.The computer-readable medium of claim 26, wherein lower resolution tileimages are constrained by virtue of their selected resolution to detailonly larger scale IC features and said visually distinguishable ICfeatures associated with the selected operational characteristics,whereas higher resolution tile images detail smaller scale IC features,and wherein said rendering comprises selectively rendering saidinteractive mapping at a selected resolution so to selectively constrainsaid rendering to said larger scale IC features and display at least onevisually distinguishable IC feature having the selected operationalcharacteristic.
 27. The computer-readable medium of claim 26, whereinsaid statements and instructions executable by said processor areexecutable to concurrently receive said input corrections from differentusers.
 28. The computer-readable medium of claim 28 wherein saidconcurrently received input corrections are executed by said processoras a batch at a later scheduled time on said feature dataset structureto produce a further updated feature dataset structure.
 29. Acomputer-implemented method for rendering an image defined by avectorized feature dataset at different magnifications, the methodcomprising: converting, for each given image rendering magnification,respective subsets of the vectorized feature dataset located withinjuxtaposed image areas into correspondingly juxtaposable static tileimages of said respective subsets, wherein a resolution of each of saidstatic tile images is prescribed by said given image renderingmagnification and at least one of the vectorized features of thevectorized feature dataset is associated with one or more featurecharacteristics; receiving selection of a selected image renderingmagnification and selected image area; retrieving said static tileimages corresponding to said selected image rendering magnification andselected image area; and rendering said retrieved static tile images forvisualization of said selected image area at said selected imagerendering magnification, wherein at least one vectorized feature havinga selected feature characteristic is rendered visually distinguishablefrom other vectorized features that do not have said selected featurecharacteristic.
 30. The method of claim 30, wherein lower magnificationtile images are constrained by virtue of their associated magnificationto detail only larger scale features and said visually distinguishablevectorized features associated with the selected featurecharacteristics, whereas higher magnification tile images detail smallerscale features and said visually distinguishable vectorized featuresassociated with the selected feature characteristics.
 31. The method ofclaim 31, wherein said vectorized features are stored as polygons,wherein said static tile images are representative of said polygons, andwherein said converting comprises generating a bitmap imagerepresentative of said vectorized features in a given area.
 32. Themethod of claim 31, wherein said rendering comprises rendering saidretrieved static tile images for visualization as an interactive mappingof a feature dataset structure within said area; and wherein the methodfurther comprises receiving input corrections for one or more givenfeatures based on said static tile images; and executing said inputcorrections on said feature dataset to produce an updated featuredataset.